A Little Lesson in Humility
So this afternoon's trip to Safeway turned out to be a little lesson in humility.The hardest thing for me to swallow about yesterday's appointment is the reality that the 'short-term survival mode' we used to plow through the summer needs to switch over into something more long-term and sustainable. If this is as good as it's going to get for a while, then we need to make this the new normal and figure out how to live our best life with what we have to work with.
The first mini-makeover I needed to undertake was streamlining our meals. Oh, and we were almost out of milk. So off to Safeway I went...
It might sound stupid to some people, but I pride myself on feeding our little family well - organic, whole food that's been processed as little as possible, to the full extent that I can do this on a limited budget and with limited energy. It's something that is incredibly important to me. Maybe someone else really cares about having a kitchen floor you could eat off of or a perfectly manicured lawn, but this is my thing.
Today, I had to let go of a little bit of that thing. Today was all about discovering some pre-fab meal component options for us to try out. Not every component of every meal, but enough that I can simplify my time in the kitchen. By the end of the trip, I had a shopping cart full of things I usually judge other moms for having in their carts. I bought meatballs, people. I BOUGHT them. Instead of making them. AND they're not even made of turkey. Oh, and a SALAD KIT. Geez. I don't even want to think how much more I paid for that than I would have if I'd built said salad on my own, just to have some factory worker making minimum wage pre-measure a couple of teaspoons of salad ingredients into stupid little bags for me. Whatever. At least it was organic.
Are you judging me? I can feel you judging me. Whatever. It's my blog, and I'm just being honest.
Anyway, the point is that at the end of my trip, I sucked it up and asked for carry-out service. Now, if you ever want to feel judged by someone, try asking for carry-out service when you *appear* to be perfectly able-bodied... But I knew that I needed help. And I asked for help. I let the lady helping me push the cart and empty every last bag into my car without helping at all. I just stood there looking and feeling like a douchebag. I'm sure the lady helping me went back inside and bitched about me to every last one of her coworkers in the break room, but I was still proud of myself for asking for what I needed today.
And thus concludes one of our early adventures in managing our new normal. It's not life-and-death, I know, but sometimes the most important changes we can make are the little everyday ones.
Now I'm off to go throw a lasagna that was made in a factory somewhere into the oven. And open up a dozen random tiny bags of things to put together a salad kit :)
Labels: Arthritis/Fibromyalgia, Being Domestic, Family, My Life
posted by Lindsay @ 4:02 PM
10 Comments:
I bet money they weren't judging you. And if they were they were douche canoes. Good for you for doing things to make life a little easier - now do yourself another favour and show yourself a bit of love. I would never judge you for buying meatballs in a box.
Right on! Agree with Mama:)
I remember when I had my back issue - 4 years of asking for help. I felt I needed to explain to every young able-bodied grocery bagger why I needed help. I don't anymore. Life is too short and THEY GET PAID TO DO IT! Yes, show yourself a bit of love and give yourself a break. Isn't that what M&M Meatshops is all about?
think of it this way, at least you will help those factory workers stay employed! There's no judgment from me, I am the queen of Kraft dinner and weiners!
1) Dinner was lovely. I had no idea the salad was from mini bags. Even Briony ate the "leaves".
2) I love love love my bag. I also found a Jane Austen journal to take on my journey. I thought it was perfect for a London and Oxford holiday.
3) (Prepare yourself for a lecture) You were supposed to make lots of noise so that I knew to go get the groceries from the car!!! I thought you were picking up milk and NOT a whole tonne of stuff. *angry face* yeah, that's right! You got an angry face from katie!
4) I hope your week gets better.
hehe - you should live in a small town. Every time I buy a boxed, frozen pizza I always check to see who's working at the Co-op.
Oh - and just wait 'til you get around to packing lunches for B. Mama's Mental Health Mondays require a bagged lunch at "school." I sometimes give myself heck for overthinking what I pack for S so much...
Pick your battles. You're still eating salad, right? That counts for something in my books. :)
Oh - but next time, find the cute, young grocery boy helper (there has to be at least one out there somewhere :). Then you won't have to worry that anyone is judging you. They'll just be JEALOUS that you had the nerve to ask him to help and they didn't.
Katie, we love you. Have a great trip. You deserve it ;)
I LOVE to cook Lindsay and I'm like you - pride myself on whole food. But I'm telling you - you've been missing out on the salad kits...the salsa salad is awesome! You do what you can and that's the best you can do. You're doing great.
XO
Lenore
good for you that you took control! that is so much more important than what other people think. because the people whose opinions matter, know the situation and they aren't judging.
LMAO! Douchebag. Love it.
Good for you Linds. Maybe to top it off I can make you one of those triangle signs to put over your shoulders when you go grocery shopping that says "Even though I may be so completely HOT, I actually do have a shitty chronic illness. Get over it!" I'd do that for you. :)
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